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Historic church with saintly ties may be demolished - Philadelphia

A Philadelphia church set for demolition has received a stay of execution from the city's Licenses and Inspections Review Board. The Church of the Assumption on Spring Garden Street is due to be demolished.

PHILADELPHIA, PA (Catholic Online) - The historic church was built in 1848, and has ties to two historic saints, St. John Neumann and St. Katherine Drexel. Since 2010, a private owner has fought to demolish the structure.

Throughout the decades, the church fell into disuse and disrepair. It was eventually acquired by John Wei, who said he would preserve the structure, but later changed his mind.

Wei originally planned the convert the church to apartments, but the city did not approve his permit for structural reasons. After that, Wei decided to demolish the church to protect himself from liability.

The fate of the church will be reviewed on Jan. 8, and it may yet be demolished.